Mr. John's - Great food, lackluster service

(Posted on 10/9/12 at 9:33 pm)

Went to Mr. John's tonight and unlike last Tuesday when I didn't have reservations and couldn't get a table AT ALL because it was so packed...it was fairly empty. There were 5 or 6 tables empty when we got there (in the main dining area) and 1 empty when we left.

Service started off great as we were seated right away. Our server was friendly and asked if we wanted a drink. We both are trying to not drink as much so we declined. He left for a few minutes as we looked over the menu and then came back to let us know about the specials. The soft shell crab appetizer sounded delicious but I had already made up my mind on the BBQ shrimp. We placed our order of:

BBQ shrimp app cowboy steak filet pasta and sauce potatoes augratin and 2 glasses of wine TO BE SERVED WHEN WE GOT OUR ENTREE

He left and a minute or so later we got some garlic bread. Little while later our BBQ shrimp came out. This was probably the darkest BBQ shrimp sauce I've ever seen but it was delicious. It came w/ 5 shrimp and 1 piece of toast. We finished that and would have loved to have some bread (we were out) but we were never asked if we would like some and the server automatically took the plate away w/o asking. We would have liked it but let it go thinking it was probably for the best considering 1 teaspoon of that sauce was probably 1000 calories. At this point, a few other tables are seated but still the place is fairly calm.

About 10 minutes later a HUGE business table came in. Within 5 minutes our entrees came out w/o any wine. After about 5 minutes our waiter comes by and asks how everything is and then says our wine will be just right out. About 5 more minutes pass and we see our waiter serving beers etc. to the big business table. AFTER he finishes serving their beers and about 15 minutes after we are served our entrees we finally get our wine.

Oh yeah, and they didn't offer us any meatballs.

Good food but disappointed in the service...mostly the fact that we didn't get our wine until 15 minutes after we got our entrees.

i dont think many people going to a nice restaurant like this is going to stiff the tip if they have a groupon. THat is all as server is working for anyway. At a place like this, they arent going to give you worse service because of a groupon or gift certificate.

Groupons have to be sanctioned by the business itself, anyway. So a server giving subpar service makes little sense.

quote:I have heard with Groupons sometimes service isn't as good as servers feel a resentment to people who use discounts.

makes no sense

Makes total sense to me .. Not saying that everyone that uses a groupon at a restaurant will tip less than someone that does not have one but the very essence of them using a groupon means that they are thrifty with their money....

quote:I don't blame them for catering to a $2000+ group over you who is drinking only one glass of cheap wine...I'm sorry you have to know your place

Know your place? The server screwed up. You can spin it however you want. The server saw a large party seating, at that point, he should have made sure the remainder of his tables were taken care of as it was likely he wouldn't return soon.

re: Mr. John's - Great food, lackluster service (Posted on 10/10/12 at 8:42 am to threeputt)

quote:Makes total sense to me .. Not saying that everyone that uses a groupon at a restaurant will tip less than someone that does not have one but the very essence of them using a groupon means that they are thrifty with their money....

shite if I use one I generally order more than I would if I didnt have one. Thus increasing the initial bill amount to which increases the servers tip.

IE: If I were going to plan on spending $100 without discount I would tip $20.

If I had a $20 discount I would order say $120 in food and tip out at $24.

re: Mr. John's - Great food, lackluster service (Posted on 10/10/12 at 9:50 am to LsuTool)

quote:Why would anyone tell the wait staff they are paying with a groupon prior to getting bill?

Some specify to present to server when seated. I am a stickler for rules, so if my voucher says that, I do it.

As a matter of fact, I was also at Mr. John's last night using a living social. It said present to server when seated, and we did so. We were sitting near the big group Neauxla mentioned. Our service didn't suffer a bit. Everything was wonderful.

I have never gotten what I considered bad or even mediocre service using a living social/groupon. Maybe because we are middle aged and tend to order more than the voucher is worth. The servers always get their 20% of the pre discounted amount from us so the fact we have a "deal" doesn't affect them.